Kurt Vile

Whoever did the booking for the Village Voice 4Knots Festival at South Street Seaport knocked it out of the park. It was a fantastic, eclectic mix of bands and genres, both local and far-flung, performing on two stages, all of whom were immensely talented and put on great, highly entertaining sets. Luckily Mother Nature cooperated as well, a day that had been forecast for intermittent thunderstorms turned out to be clear blue skies with a great breeze off the East River.

Kurt Vile's fifth long player is a humble opus if there’s such a thing. His lyrics could be hopeful, could be melancholy, it’s tough to tell – the almost-eponymous opening track (substitute “Day” for Daze in the title) sums it simply, it’s hard to explain, (my love) in this daze. Vile’s vocals throughout Wakin On A Pretty Daze are soft and flatline, yet they tend to hint at a humble crispness around the edges. As warning, his melodies keep alongside his voice, slow and meandering with only the slightest deviance.